Essay On Malnutrition In Cambodia

The global health challenge that I am focusing on is malnutrition in Cambodia. Malnutrition is the result of poor feeding practices such as wasting and stunting during early childhood. In Cambodia up to 40% of the children are malnourished because of poverty, this is an alarming fact and something needs to be done to prevent this (World Vision International, 2014). This health problem is essential to a couple of the UN Millennium Development Goals which are eradicate extreme hunger and poverty and reduce child mortality. Cambodia unfortunately, has the highest infant and under-five child mortality rate in the region, at 97 and 141 per 1,000 live births, with malnutrition being one of them (Unicef, 2003). Poverty as well, is really high in this country and many people are only surviving on less than one dollar a day. Therefore, it is important that we address this problem by focusing on creating better access to food and providing nutritious food at a lower price, having schools educate on a well-balanced healthy diet, and enhancing breastfeeding, sanitation and hygiene practices.

Cambodia is a developing low income country that has a population of 14.86 million and a GDP of $14.04 billion. Cambodia has gone through an economic growth in the last decade lowering the poverty rate to 20.5 percent. Still about 2.8 million of the Cambodian population is poor, and about 90 percent of them live in the countryside (Cambodia, 2013). Almost, 40% of children are chronically malnourished in Cambodia, which is is pretty high. This is a big problem because, in 2005, Cambodia demonstrated high rates of undernutrition as measured by stunting 37.3%, wasting 7.3% and underweight 35.6% in children less than 5 years of age (Marriott, 2010).

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...t a lower price. This could be by adding more markets in poor rural areas and having a food safety specialist check the food. Improving training of health workers, by having them attend classes every 6 months. Enhancing nutritional, breastfeeding, and hygienic practices in doctor visits and in children's schools. We will need the support the Royal Government of Cambodia to recognize the importance of malnutrition and reduce poverty by making services more accessible to the poor. We will also need the support of the Council for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) to make sure they resolve the issues around nutrition and give the people of Cambodia the right quality of food. Ensuring the children from Cambodia are healthy is a fundamental key to the development and prosperity of Cambodia because, they are the next generation that could make that positive change.